


Six Souls

by Elacular



Category: Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-06-29
Updated: 2017-06-29
Packaged: 2018-11-21 05:25:27
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 6
Words: 3,425
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11350785
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Elacular/pseuds/Elacular
Summary: Six souls were gathered before Frisk fell. Who were they? What was their story?





	1. Perseverance

Viola

 

Everything told me that I should turn back. But I really needed to know.

 

I’ve never been very athletic. Not a runner, not a jumper, definitely not a climber. Kinda pudgy and slow if I’m honest.

 

But when I learned about Mt. Ebott, I knew I had to get to the top.

 

Stories of monsters? A disappeared child? Mythology a thousand years old? I couldn’t let it be.

 

My parents wouldn’t notice I was gone. I was never very noticeable to begin with, always being quiet and taking notes. They had other things to contend with. So I packed a butt-ton of protein bars and water bottles and started climbing.

 

Iiiiii didn’t plan very well.

 

I ran out of food about two thirds of the way up. But I had come too far to stop now. So I just kept going. And...to my surprise, I actually reached the top.

 

I was so excited. It was an adrenaline rush. I ran over and started sketching the cave, and when I saw the giant hole, I had to look in.

 

Turned out I was still really freaking tired though.

 

The next thing I remember, I was on some flowers. And I could have sworn I saw something leaning over me. But it faded away. I couldn’t get a good look at it anyway. My glasses got badly messed up by the fall. So when I saw that I was being carried by something all white and blue, I had to try and logic out what it was.

 

  1. Not an angel. If this is heaven, I wouldn’t feel like I just got hit by a truck.
  2. Not a demon. If this is hell, I wouldn’t _just_ feel like I got hit by a truck.
  3. Insufficient data, where the hell are my glasses?



 

My data only got more insufficient when I could feel my bones knitting back together. There was still blood on me, I could feel it, but it got dry and tacky, and there was no new blood to wet it. “I’m sorry I couldn’t fix your glasses, my child.” The voice was soft and feminine.

 

And that’s how I met Toriel. 

 

I stayed with her for a while. Until I’d read every book in her library. But then I told her I wanted to keep going. She said she understood, but she made me promise to stay away from a place called “New Home.” She said that an “Asgore” lived there. I would have joked, but when I looked in her eyes, I could see she was serious.

 

It took a great deal of effort not to freeze my butt off in Snowdin, so I moved through there as fast as I possibly could. I was thinking I might just run back to Toriel, even though I knew there was no way out that way.

 

But then I met Gerson.

 

Toriel was nice...sweet. But she was overprotective. I’d never had to deal with being smothered and babied before, and it wasn’t comfortable. Gerson was different.The first thing he did was try to attack me. The first thing he told me once we both calmed down was that I looked like a peeled potato. After that, I knew we would be friends.

 

He was the person I learned the most from. He showed me around Waterfall and Hotland, told me all about all the things he’d learned through his long, long life...I was happy. But something was wrong. I listened to what he had to say. And the injustice of it all...hurt. I knew I couldn’t solve it. There was no way I had the power. But if I could get the knowledge out about what really happened, what was really going on, I could maybe do some real good. 

 

I’d been told everything I needed to know. Now I had to go back.

 

Gerson understood. I knew that he would. He knew what it was like to fight for something you knew was right, even if you probably couldn’t win. He asked if he could keep a copy of my notebook and my old, foggy glasses (since he’d made me new ones.) I said yes, but told him that if I had my way, we’d meet again.

 

The way he smiled, I could tell how unlikely it was.

 

Hotland wasn’t hard. Not after the training Gerson had given me. I was able to make my way through until I reached the castle.

 

Gerson had told me about Asgore. So I was expecting something large. Something terrifying. Something angry.

 

What I got was a broken, broken man.

 

As soon as he saw me, he tried to smile. But it shattered right away. He asked me if I wanted tea. And when he gave it to me, it tasted like salt.

 

We talked for a little. It was excruciating. And he could only hold out so long. After ten awful minutes, he burst into tears, begging me to please please leave and go home to Gerson.

 

Toriel had told me he would kill me. Gerson had told me he probably hated humans more than I could comprehend. And here the king was, begging me to run.

 

Everything told me that I should turn back. But I really needed to know.


	2. Integrity

James

 

I wasn’t going to lose myself. Not like this.

 

Not to small minded small townsfolk who couldn’t comprehend that maybe a boy might enjoy dancing ballet.

 

Frankly, Mt. Ebott just seemed like a nice place to hang out and die. But I got lucky. It turned out there was a whole world waiting for me underneath.

 

Toriel was one of the first people who was nice to me in years. She called me son and let me dance. She didn’t even see anything contradictory between them. But her ruins were small. And I needed space. So I snuck out again.

 

She told me it was dangerous. That monsters would attack me, just because of what I was. But down here, I didn’t have to put up with that anymore. I’d had enough of being attacked for things that I couldn’t control. Things that shouldn’t matter, even if I could control them.

 

Toriel said to strike up a friendly conversation. But when the world kicked me, I kicked back.

 

I could feel myself getting stronger. More full of Love. I never attacked anyone who didn’t attack me first. But as I became more powerful, I realized that I could go back home. And that I’d be strong enough to stand up to the humans that had hurt me. To show them that they hadn’t stifled me.

 

And so, I went to meet the king.

 

Toriel had told me about him. About him being a killer. But I thought she was just paranoid. Even so, as soon as I met Asgore, I knew something was off.

 

He tried to act all nicey-nice, watering flowers, giving tea, all sorts of crappy little pleasantries. He told me that if I followed him, he’d take me to see the barrier so I could go home.

 

He left me alone. That was a mistake. Because it meant that I found her.

 

And her coffin.

 

I went back and met him again by the barrier. And I told him that I didn’t care how sweet he’d try to be, because I knew what he was. I knew what weak, stupid, violent people like him did to people like me. And I told him the truth.

 

I wasn’t going to lose myself. Not like this.


	3. Patience

Peace

 

I knew what was going to happen. But I told her I could wait. And I meant it.

 

When my mom talked to me, I knew she was crying, even though I couldn’t see. That was nothing new. I’d always known she was much younger than the other mothers. I’d always felt the looks that they would give us both. And I’d felt that something like this would happen eventually. She pressed my toy knife into my hands and tied my ribbon up in my hair. She told me someone would come for me, and that she was so sorry. And even though it didn’t matter, I had to close my eyes when I heard the crunch.

 

It hurt to hear. But I kept waiting. The sun fell off of my face, but eventually I heard a voice down below. It wasn’t my mother, but it was something similar. And I knew it was what I was waiting for.

 

When I jumped, Toriel was there to catch me.

 

She told me she couldn’t help my mom. I told her I knew. She asked if she could take care of me. I said I hoped she would.

 

We stayed together for two years. She took good care of me. But I memorized everything. Every stone. Every crevice. Every bit of the ruins. And I could feel that something inside was watching me. I knew I needed to leave.

 

I told Toriel about it, and she said she wouldn’t let me. I knew that she wouldn’t. I walked down to the door anyway.

 

She blocked it. Tried to fight me. Shot fire at me. I let her. She stopped when I was badly burned. I could feel the heat passing by my skin, but not touching it. I told her I wouldn’t fight. She said that we’d just sit here forever then.

 

So I waited. She’d have to sleep sometime.

 

And she did.

 

I left the ruins and made my way to Snowdin. The first thing I did was rest in the snow until my burns stopped hurting. The monsters in the ruins had gotten used to me, but the ones out here hadn’t. They attacked me. But when I didn’t fight back, eventually, their attacks got weaker and weaker. And so I kept going forwards.

 

I felt my way across the Underground, all the way to New Home. I wasn’t sure what I was looking for, but I knew there was something that had been needing me. I could hear voices get sadder and sadder, the closer to the palace I came.

 

I could smell the king before I heard him. He smelled like flowers. I remembered the smell of the flowers my mother had died in. The flowers Toriel cared for. And I knew this must be who was waiting for me.

 

He and I talked. He tried to attack me, but I convinced him to let us have tea first. We sat in silence for a long time before he finally spoke. But when he did, it all came spilling out. He told me about his children. About his wife. About the promise he’d made, and how it was all that was holding his kingdom together. He told me he was sorry. He told me I’d be trapped.

 

I knew what was going to happen. But I told him I could wait. And I meant it.


	4. Kindness

Patty

 

A belly full of good food can make any situation better.

 

Growing up homeless, I’ve always known that was the case. But meeting Toriel was a good reminder. I don’t really remember how I ended up inside of Mount Ebott. But I was all skin and bones once I was there. I was hungry enough that it felt like the flowers I was trying to eat were screaming at me. But that may have just been Toriel. I found out later that they were suuuuuper poisonous.

 

Anyway, she gave me food that didn’t suck (this amazing pie. Like, goddamn, it tasted like dreams.) And she gave me a room to stay in. I lived in the ruins with her for a few months, and I made some friends. She and the spiders helped me learn how to cook my own food, and I really loved doing it. But while I was staying there, I found out. I found out about everything the monsters had been through. And I knew I couldn’t really change it. But I thought that maybe I could use my gift to make it suck less. So, the spiders and I made a deal. I snuck them a bunch of Toriel’s good baking materials, and they helped me sneak out to Snowdin.

 

There, I met Grillby. He wasn’t much of a talker, but I talked enough for both of us. He was nice, even though I was a human, and when I explained what I wanted to him, he took me under his wing for a while. I trained with cooks all over the underground. Grillby, a mother spider named Muffet, the...temmies... (it takes all kinds, I think.) But I got really good! Even though monster food was different from human food, I loved it, and I shared my creations with as many monsters as I could. Even though they were scared and angry at me, it made sense. I was a human after all. But they still deserved the bits of happiness I could give them.

 

As the months went on, apparently word got around. And it kept going around until it went all the way up to the king. And he sent me a letter, all on fine parchment and stuff, about how he wanted to see me cook and maybe get some pointers.

 

Now, Toriel had warned me about the king. She said that he was a bad guy. But...well, from what I heard, he sounded like he was hurting. And we all do stupid stuff when we’re hurting, right? I mean, I tried to eat poison, for chrissake. So, while I was walking to New Home, I figured maybe I could help him, yanno? At least a little.

 

A belly full of good food can make any situation better.


	5. Justice

Lilly

 

It felt really right to be covered in blood.

 

That was the first time I knew something was wrong with me. My dad had taken me and my lil’ brother fishing, and when he cleaned them, I really wanted to do it. I wanted to be the one with the knife. So he helped to teach me how to “clean” it. And I got blood all over me. And I went home and curled up in my bed and just felt really really wrong while I was smiling.

 

It got worse from that. I always latched onto my dad when he went hunting. Got happy when he let me help him cut up the animals. But soon, it wasn’t enough. I started getting antsy when it wasn’t hunting season. And one day, when dad was away from home, I learned how to pick the lock on his gun cabinet. And I took one of his pistols. I loaded it, just like I’d seen him do all the times.

 

My first kill was a squirrel. And I liked it. And I hated myself.

 

This kept going. I tried to act normal, then buried animals out in the woods. Out in my special place. And for a while, it was kind of okay.

 

But then, my brother found it. 

 

He was bigger than me. But I could see he was terrified in his eyes. He looked like he was gonna cry, looking at all the bones and guts and skins. And the first place my brain went was “Dad ain’t home. You could shoot him too.”

 

Couldn’t stay after that. Of course I couldn’t. So I ran.

 

I’ve always been a good runner. I kept running as long as my lungs would let me, then some more. Started coughing up blood. Kept running. Mountain got in the way. Kept running.

 

Fell into the mountain. Couldn’t run anymore.

 

Something saw me. Said I was like him. Said he liked my gun. I tried to kill it. Ended up hurting a woman who came to help me. She told me she was Toriel, and that I was underground with the monsters. And I decided it was good enough, ‘cause this was where I belonged. 

 

Wasn’t quite like that though. Toriel wasn’t scared of me. Acted like she’d seen it before. She did magic things, with actual magic. Wove some stuff into my hat to help me stay calm. Taught me how to meditate and stuff when I had urges. And nothing felt as good as when I hurt things, but nothing felt as bad as it either, so it was okay.

 

But I started hearing things. Seeing things. Little whispers just below my ears telling me to shoot monsters. Vines dripping blood out of the walls, then being all okay. And I knew I had to get away, for Toriel.

 

So I left the ruins. But...

 

But then...

 

I don’t know what the hell I was expecting. But it wasn’t a big goddamn skeleton glowing red out of its eyes and chest, smilin’ all wide at me.

 

I shot it. I shot it I shot it I shot it. I didn’t even think, I just shot it.

 

And then it was on the ground and there was these two little baby skeletons all cryin’ and...

 

And then it was all black. Everything was black and I was everywhere and I wasn’t anywhere and I...there’s a hole in my brain where something oughta be in the memory. I can feel something cold grabbin’ my arm. I remember kickin’ at something and not feelin’ any skin. But the next thing that’s really clear is me looking down into a pit of lava, seeing little bits of black fade away. My whole body was all covered in dust.

 

Everything that’s next is really clear. I wandered into new home. Everything was scared of me. It made sense. I went up to the king. I pointed my gun at him. It was outa bullets, but I knew that.

 

He didn’t, though. He did the regular thing. He defended himself. I remember getting run through. Knowing it was over. Knowing a killer got what she deserved.

 

It felt really right to be covered in blood.


	6. Bravery

Jonah

 

I’ve always seemed stronger than I actually am.

 

Maybe that’s why dad thought I’d be okay if we just moved away. But...no. I only waited a few months, but I knew I’d never be normal again. I look tough, but I’m really weak.

 

My sister was always the strong one. I didn’t hate her. Not even a little bit.

 

I wasn’t even scared of her. But she thought I was. 

 

I knew that I needed to get her back.

 

It was terrifying. Riding a bus alone. Feeling like I was gonna get arrested ‘cause I stole some of dad’s money for the ticket. And then climbing up that mountain. I thought that nothing could be worse than the pit. Seeing the big hole, and all the tape put up, warning not to go near it. And knowing I was gonna go in it.

 

I thought nothing could be worse than that. I was wrong.

 

Down there, even the plants tried to kill me. Strung me up, shook me, tried to wring my neck. If Toriel hadn’t saved me, I would have died.

 

I tried to get info about my sister, but she wouldn’t help. I tried to leave, but she blocked the door. Eventually, I just shoved my way past her and ran as fast as I could.

 

I asked about Lilly in Snowdin, but a skeleton tried to attack me and I ran away again. I ended up jumping into the river and almost freezing to death before the river person pulled me out. They were nice enough to take me to hotland.

 

I knew from the way the monsters flinched at me that she’d been here too. I followed the fear. It was familiar to me.

 

I followed it to Asgore. The killer Toriel told me about. And when I asked him about Lilly, I saw the look. Guilt. Shame. Fear. It was the same look she gave me when I found the place she’d hidden from me and dad. And I knew what had happened.

 

Asgore was big. Nearly twice my size, and I wasn’t small. He had a trident at least as big as he was. And he looked strong as hell. But right then, that didn’t matter. I jumped on him, punched him as hard as my arms would let me, kept it up until my fists were all bloody. And for a minute...for a minute, I thought I may even win.

 

But I’ve always seemed stronger than I actually am.


End file.
